May 24, 2025 Breaking News, Latest News, and Videos

EXPO, Bus Changes to Reshape Public Transportation in Santa Monica:

With the Exposition Light Rail Line plowing into town and the Big Blue Bus (BBB) planning significant changes to its service area, Santa Monicans got a peek into the future with a community meeting and a pair of city council agenda items on upcoming changes to public transportation in the city.

The council approved various adjustments to BBB’s service hours, routes, and stops when it voted on the issue just before midnight at its May 10 meeting. One day earlier, the Exposition Construction Authority hosted a community meeting with design-builder Skanska/Rados at the Civic Center to gather up local support for the planned light rail coming into Santa Monica. Although no official actions were taken in regard to the Expo, the community meeting reflected the drastic changes soon coming to Santa Monica.

With construction work starting in the next six weeks, the Expo Construction Authority provided a generalized sneak peak at its plans moving forward with the rail line, which will connect Santa Monica to Downtown Los Angeles. As the Expo’s first phase prepares to open later this year, planners are now looking forward to executing the rail line’s second phase in Santa Monica.

During the next few weeks, and heading into summer, Expo officials say they will be performing mostly transitional work along the light rail’s planned route. The more extensive street improvement and utility work will begin in the fall, according to the design-builder. It was also announced that as many as 400 track workers may be working throughout the city during the peak of construction.

Yet before construction reaches a fever pitch, both the Expo Authority and the designers said they hope to hold more community meetings throughout the design build process. With notices of community meetings expected to be sent to the City’s residents during the summer, Exposition Construction Authority CEO Rick Thorpe said it was vital to involve locals as early as possible.

“We’re coming in trying to put in an improvement that is going to be there for 100 years,” he said. “We need to make sure that it works within the community that we’re bringing it to.”

The following evening, the council considered the BBB’s three-year service improvement plan, a line-by-line analysis of the transit service and service area market conditions, and alternatives analysis for transit connections to Expo stations in Santa Monica.

As part of its public hearing, the council ultimately approved the service changes recommended by the BBB. The issue will be revisited.

“On August 28, 2011, the first of an anticipated series of transit service changes are recommended for implementation on Lines 1, 2, 7, Rapid 7, 10, 11 and 13, and include the implementation of the new interim parking shuttle,” Stephanie Negriff, the outgoing director of Transit Services, told the council in her staff report. “These proposed service changes will result in an increase of 7,619 annual service hours at an incremental cost of $419,000.”

Lines 3 and 14 were included in the BBB’s suggested changes for August, as the proposed changes for both lines have been subject to controversy, Negriff said. Part of the BBB’s report and suggested changes included an “alternatives analysis” aimed to “evaluate options to improve transit connections to the three planned Expo rail stations in Santa Monica.”

In sharing its three-year-plan with the council, BBB officials said their planned process includes feedback from community outreach, and the possibility to make future strategy revisions, public hearings, and reviews with the council.

Through its proposed alterations, cuts, and plan changes, BBB hopes to improve traffic circulation in Downtown Santa Monica while also preparing for Expo’s second phase, supporting the Land Use and Circulation Element (LUCE), and maintain a balanced budget. To achieve this, BBB made several recommendations to “move resources to the most productive services” while balancing “community needs with resource constraints.”

Specifically, BBB suggested several alterations or cuts to certain lines. As Negriff pointed out, changes would be made to Lines 1, 2, 7, 10, 11, 13, and Rapid 7. For example, BBB’s plan called for reducing duplicative service between Lines 1 and 2; improving performance and subway connections for Line 7 and Rapid 7; reducing the “unproductive service” of Line 13; improving the on-time performance of Line 10; and improving downtown circulation through Downtown Ride. Additionally, the Rapid 7 service would be extended to the Metro Purple Line’s Wilshire/Western station.

Several students from Santa Monica College and UCLA attended the public hearing. Liza Taylor, a graduate student at UCLA, was concerned about the service changes to Line 2 in the Ocean Park area.

“I use the bus to commute to work and I can think of, off the top of my head, nine other people who use it regularly to commute to work. We’re all UCLA graduate students, and because of that, we are low-income. It is our only way of getting to work,” she told the council. “When I get on the bus, there are other people waiting in that stretch between Hill and Pico, so it is used by the community.”

Valerie Griffin, chair of the Wilshire/Montana Neighborhood Coalition, told the council she believed the proposed line changes, while ideal for long haulers, did not make much sense to locals who frequently use the BBB.

“We are very concerned that routes are shifting away from neighborhood service and (are instead being) optimized to serve students. We realize that providing bus service to students does help the community, but there are other transit needs which remain unserved,” Griffin said. “The larger trend of switching more services to Rapid and cutting local services is a matter of concern. The problem is … short community bus trips are less convenient (for locals).”

The service changes, which are for the short term and not for the entire three-year period before the next scheduled BBB internal analysis, would be implemented in August. With community meetings set for October, the service changes will be considered by the council again in November.

“I am willing to try this for a few months to see what happens,” council member Kevin McKeown said, addressing the concern about bus noise expressed by residents.

Mayor Pro Tem Gleam Davis complemented McKeown’s backing, saying that while the proposed changes are not permanent, the council is not recommending BBB to experiment with service changes in the interim process.

“I don’t want anyone to think we’re going to try this for three months and see how it works,” Davis said. “I think it does make sense to revisit it … and (in three months) you can tell us how it’s working, if you are still receiving complaints.”

The council also adopted an ordinance authorizing City Manager Rod Gould “to negotiate cooperation agreements with the Exposition Metro Line Construction Authority and with the L.A. County Metropolitan Transportation Authority for the construction and operation of a light rail transit system” in Santa Monica.

Council members Bob Holbrook and Pam O’Connor were not present at the May 10 meeting, while council member Bobby Shriver excused himself prior to the conclusion of the BBB public hearing, leaving the governing body to barely operate at a quorum.

in News
<>Related Posts

Resilient Palisades Named Nonprofit of the Year by Sen. Ben Allen

May 23, 2025

May 23, 2025

Volunteer-led group honored for climate resilience work and wildfire recovery efforts Resilient Palisades, a grassroots environmental organization based in Pacific...

Governor Announces Early Reopening of Pacific Coast Highway After Wildfire Closures

May 22, 2025

May 22, 2025

Major Stretch of PCH Reopens May 23 After Months of Wildfire-Related Closures Governor Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday that State Route...

Film Review: Final Destination: Bloodlines

May 22, 2025

May 22, 2025

FILM REVIEWFINAL DESTINATION: BLOODLINESRated R110 MinutesReleased May 16th  This is the sixth entry in the Final Destination movie franchise that...

Bay Cities Deli Temporarily Closed After Health Violations

May 22, 2025

May 22, 2025

Eleven violation points were attributed to the presence of rodents and insects Bay Cities Italian Deli & Bakery, a popular...

Man Arrested in Stabbing Near Santa Monica Pier

May 22, 2025

May 22, 2025

Victim hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries following altercation A man was arrested after allegedly stabbing another man during an altercation near...

Exclusive Interview with Cardinale du Vin’s New Chef-in-Residence Paul Chuanchaisit

May 22, 2025

May 22, 2025

The Westside Wine Bar Expands Its Culinary Horizons With a Bold New Menu By Dolores Quintana Cardinale du Vin is...

Palisades Bakery Aids Displaced Residents with Deliveries, Cookbook Donations After Fire

May 21, 2025

May 21, 2025

The bakery’s relief effort is aimed at ensuring that displaced residents continue to have access to familiar foods during recovery...

Memorial Day Weekend in L.A.: Rosé, Beach BBQs, and Brunches Ring in the Summer

May 21, 2025

May 21, 2025

The Westside Is Packed With Culinary Events, Pop-Ups, and Parties This Weekend Angelenos looking to kick off the summer season...

Summer at Annenberg Beach House to Include Sunset Picnics, Yoga Classes and the Annual Cardboard Yacht Regatta

May 21, 2025

May 21, 2025

The Beach House, located on the former Marion Davies estate, remains free and open to the public The Annenberg Community...

(Video) Interview with Chef Roy Choi for his new book The Choi of Cooking

May 21, 2025

May 21, 2025

We speak with the world-famous Socal Chef in Manhattan Beach at the Los Angeles Public Library.

FDA Probes Salmonella Outbreak Tied to Recalled Cucumbers Distributed in California

May 21, 2025

May 21, 2025

At Least 26 People Sickened and 9 Hospitalized in Multiple States  Federal health officials are investigating a multistate outbreak of...

10th Annual MAINopoly: A Taste of Main Street Comes to Santa Monica This Weekend

May 21, 2025

May 21, 2025

Annual board game-inspired food event set for Sunday, May 25 The 10th annual MAINopoly: A Taste of Main Street will...

Michelin Three Star Institution Brings 20th Anniversary Culinary Experience to Beverly Hills

May 21, 2025

May 21, 2025

Grant Achatz’s Alinea Heads to Beverly Hills for Summer Residency Renowned chef Grant Achatz and his team at Alinea, Chicago’s Michelin...

$2.2M Awarded to LA County for Wildfire Prevention Ahead of 2025 Fire Season

May 21, 2025

May 21, 2025

The grants mark the first disbursement of funds from Proposition 4, a bond measure that provides millions for wildfire resilience...

(Video) Classic Cars and Hot Rods Showcased During Santa Monica Pier’s Locals Night

May 20, 2025

May 20, 2025

It Was The Last Locals Night of the Season It Was The Last Locals Night of the Season. pic.twitter.com/mUo6hMJpPZ —...